1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a light weight explosive and fire resistant container having utility in the transporting or storage of munitions. The container comprises a combination of materials and structures arranged so that on the accidential detonation of an explosive, the blast is mitigated, and the risk of fire is reduced so as to minimize damage to the carrier and injury to personnel.
2. Brief Description of the prior Art
Much work has been done to control, or mitigate the effects of an explosive against an adjacent structure. A well known example of such work is the ammunition compartment of the M1 and MIA1 Abrams Tank. Given an explosion, the ammunition compartment controls the effect by venting gases, pressures, and fragments to the outside of the vehicle. Crew and vehicle are protected, and survivability is enhanced. However a combat vehicle is very heavy, e.g., the M1 weighs about 60 tons. Therefore, the technology which is applicable to a military vehicle, would not be applicable to an aircraft.
Other examples of the prior art are a line of products manufactured by Shielding Technologies, Inc. (STI) of Bel Air, Md. An example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,789.
The shields are constructed of steel grating, steel perforated plates, steel louvered panels or wire screening used singly or together as a composite. The panels form a labyrinth through which the explosive gas must pass to get to the other side of the device. The pressure of these gases is reduced by traveling through the tortuous path of the labyrinth. The devices are very strong and designed to withstand and bullet impact without being destroyed. Also, the mass of the device is large enough to reduce thermal hazard from fire, but not enough to extinguish a fire. The weight of the steel and copper in these containers renders them impractical for carrying passenger baggage and packages commonly transported on aircraft.
The present invention utilizes light materials, i.e., sheet metals of steel, aluminum, and modern composites to create a light weight structure. The wall construction of the present invention has an area density of approximately 10/pounds/square foot, whereas the area density of the STI structure, sufficient to suppress a 2 pound TNT event , has an area density of approximately 21 pounds/square foot. A container with 180 square feet of surface area would weigh 1800 pounds using the present technology, compared to about 3,780 pounds using the prior art technology.